Treasures of the past: Unterumbach's community center becomes a museum!

The community center in Unterumbach was transformed into a museum for a weekend, which attracted numerous visitors. Local historian Christa Liebert and Professor Ernst-Michael Hackbarth organized the exhibition entitled “Traces of prehistory in Pfaffenhofen an der Glonn”. This event was particularly meaningful for Liebert because she celebrated her 80th birthday on the day of the opening and personally toured the exhibition.

The exhibited finds were collected over many years with the support of helpers. Liebert had searched fields for valuable artifacts with the permission of farmers. The highlights of the exhibition included a cheekbone from a prehistoric elephant that lived around 16.5 million years ago, as well as an aquamanile from Miesberg that served as a hand-washing vessel for clergy and knights. Other exhibits included cannonballs, Celtic coins, hand-turning mills from the Late Stone Age, oven tiles and stone axes. The exhibition covered artifacts from the Stone Age to modern times, but did not take into account the Roman period.

Archaeological finds in Pfaffenhofen

Meanwhile, the results of archaeological excavations on the site of the former Café Herb in Pfaffenhofen were presented. Excavation manager Bernd Kriens from the excavation company ADA informed the local and cultural community about the important finds. Among other things, post holes were discovered that indicate the fire of 1388, as well as a cooking and smoking pit with traces of fire and remains of bones. Other finds included two coins, a rider's spur, an arrowhead and fragments of a studded glass cup, as well as stove tiles from the 14th century.

The finds indicate that the residents of the site must have been wealthy, as silver coins and glass were present, among other things. The oldest coin found is a Swabian Heller, a replica from the 15th century that comes from Augsburg or Ulm. Due to the fact that Pfaffenhofen was not allowed to mint its own coins before it received city charter, Swabian hellers were used. The second coin discovered dates from the late Middle Ages, between the 15th and 16th centuries. The arrowhead can also be traced back to a possible military use in connection with the fire of 1388. Further evidence shows that houses were not rebuilt for a period of 20 to 50 years after the fire.

The property had several construction phases: first, wooden buildings were built, followed by a brick cellar under a half-timbered house, and finally a complete brick building. Kriens emphasized the importance of archeology for the identity of a place and regretted the lack of a museum in Pfaffenhofen in which the valuable finds could be presented. Lectures planned next spring by Kriens and Ruth Sandner from the State Office for Monument Preservation are intended to provide further insights into these historical discoveries.